1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improvement in plastic bags, and in one aspect, to an improved construction of a bag for refuse which includes a closure member to position the bag during use and to seal the bag when filled.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are many constructions of flexible bags which are made of plastic material and provided with some type of pressure-sensitive adhesive, making the same easy to close. A number of variations of a bag having a reusable pressure-sensitive adhesive closure for the opening are disclosed in United Kingdom patent application 2,066,208. The bag therein disclosed, which are most relevant to the pesent invention, is a bag as illustrated in FIG. 22 comprising a back panel having a front surface and a rear surface and a front panel having a front surface. The back panel and the front panel are contiguous and extend beyond a bottom fold. The dimension of the back panel upwardly from the bottom fold is greater than the dimension of the front panel in the same direction, and provides a flap extending forwardly and downwardly of the front panel. The front surface of the front panel is provided with a strip of pressure-sensitive adhesive which is a reusable adhesive placed across the front surface of the front panel to adhere to the inside surface of the flap formed on the back panel. This construction permits the flap to be peeled from the front panel to provide access to the opening of the bag which is otherwise sealed on the two sides and formed with the folded bottom.
Other relevant bag constructions are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,599, assigned to the assignee of this application, U.S. Pat. No. 3,561,670, disclosing a bag having a band of adhesive covered by a protective strip on the rear surface of the back panel adjacent its upper edge for adhering the bag to a support member for the same to serve as a receptacle; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,715,493 and No. 2,671,602, showing bags with strips of adhesive used to join the bags and subsequently seal the bags.
The improvement of the present invention over that of the prior art is the provision of a piece of pressure-sensitive adhesive tape having adhesive on one surface being applied to the back face of the front panel of a flexible bag adjacent the bag opening with a portion of the adhesive of said strip of tape being exposed on the front of the bag above the front panel.
The bag of the present invention is provided with a notch in each side to facilitate a wider opening in the top of the bag during filling.
The present invention provides an improvement over prior flexible bags having a pressure-sensitive adhesive closure in that a single piece of tape is adhered along one portion thereof to the inner face of the front panel of the bag and a release member is adhered over a portion of the adhesive face of the tape which release member is removable to expose the adhesive face of the tape above the front panel, allowing the same to be affixed to an object. The adhesive also forms the resulting seal for the flap.
The present invention is an improvement over previous bags having a pressure-sensitive adhesive closure in that the adhesive closure is formed on the front panel of the bag, permitting the front panel of the bag to be adhered to a surface over which material may be moved to be placed into the bag and then the bag may be removed from the surface and the projecting flap on the back panel of the bag may be folded over the front panel and secured thereto by the same strip of pressure-sensitive adhesive.